Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

I've not spent much time butterflying this year but we did go to Park Heath Corner to record the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. They have always been one of those, must see every year species, although that may fade now that the population at Park Heath is becoming more stable.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

They are usually hyperactive and difficult to photograph but we must have got the timing and weather just right this year. Frequent clouds passing over left the butterflies stationary and open winged waiting for the sun to re-appear.

Other butterflies are starting to show after the summer break but some of our favourite spots don't seem to have got going yet. Sunshine and higher temperatures promised over the next week should liven things up

Below a few firsts for the year spotted whilst out looking for Orchids.

Marbled White

Ringlet

Ringlet

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

Common Blue

Perhaps I have not been looking as hard this year but there don't seem to be as many butterflies around as usual.

Made in Sussex

Two additions to my Sussex Butterfly list, with both the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary and the Wood White seen in Sussex locations in the past week.

A Wood White in Sussex has been a target for two or three years now. The Sussex Branch of Butterfly conservation suggests that in lean years these can be difficult to find and suggests travelling over the border into Surrey and visiting Botany Bay (Tugley Wood) where there are good sized colonies. They have always been very reluctant to release any information on potential sites in Sussex.

But that only makes it more of a challenge.

Dave and I have searched a few Sussex sites without success but research finally led us to a little wood and there they were. Or there they were for me, Dave was on his way to a butterflying holiday in the Pyrenees and missed them. Hopefully they will still be there when he gets back.

I only managed to see three but that's OK, I only need one for my Sussex tick. That takes me up to 46 butterfly species seen and photographed in Sussex. Still some way to go. According to Butterfly Conservation Sussex Branch:-


There were 52 species of butterfly recorded in Sussex during the 2010-14 survey conducted for the "Butterflies of Sussex" atlas. Of these 43 are native to Sussex, living out their entire life cycle within the county. Two migrant species, the Clouded Yellow and the Painted Lady are such regular visitors that we can consider them to be Sussex species. The remaining seven are rare or occasional visitors whose unpredicable appearance is often dependent upon the weather. These are Scarce Tortoiseshell, Camberwell Beauty, Long-tailed Blue, Geranium Bronze, Glanville Fritillary, Monarch and Swallowtail.


Long-tailed Blue, I have seen but that still leaves six very rare butterflies that I am looking for. I probably also need to add the Large Tortoiseshell to that list. Can't say that I am too worried though. The way things are going of late, wedding releases, colonies bred in garden sheds and the odd matchbox bought back from the continent, should give me plenty of opportunities.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Following a very wet spring in 2012 and cold start to 2013, by 2014 the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary had disappeared from Sussex as a breeding species. Efforts to improve the habitat and reintroduce them resulted in a limited success last year and good signs of a sustainable population this year with reports of sightings from Abbotts Wood, Rowlands Wood, and Park Heath Corner.

Towards the end of last week we went to Park Heath Corner so I could add this butterfly to my Sussex list. Well we saw it but getting a picture was hard work. Just like the larger Pearl-Bordered Fritillary they are very active, fast flying and have the ability to just disappear from sight whilst only a few feet away from you. This is perhaps a butterfly to pursue late in the day, when it has worn itself out chasing the ladies and may be found nectaring on the wild flowers.

Only one photograph and I couldn't get close but this was all I had to show for a couple of hours effort. Not even an underwing shot to show the pearls.

Northern Brown Argus and Chequered Skipper

This is part two of our Scotland trip and covers some of the butterflies and moths that we found on our travels. There will also be a part three containing even more impressive butterflies.

Day one and our destination was the St Abbs Head National Nature Reserve to look for the Northern Brown Argus. A quick walk round to the butterfly reserve soon warmed us up but the air temperature was still a little on the cool side and the only butterflies flying were a few Ringlets and this small moth that I think is a Chimney Sweeper.

Chimney Sweeper

We started to have our doubts but a few minutes searching the target area and Dave came up with the first Northern Brown Argus.

It was a great start to the tour we had planned. We had probably only seen eight to ten Northern Browns by the time we left but we were keen to move on to our next destination and couldn't really wait for more to appear.

Close on three hours later and we were at our second site Trinafour, looking for the Mountain Ringlet, and despite a good search we came up empty handed. At the time we thought that the temperature was probably too low but by the end of the week having dipped the butterfly three times we came to the conclusion that we were probably a couple of weeks too early. Although, I have to admit, that we bottled out of climbing the hill to see if they were on the slopes above Glasdrum Wood.

Glasdrum gave us a Chequered Skipper which we had not been expecting. It was a bit tatty but who am I to complain. It looks as though both the Mountain Ringlets and Chequered Skippers are running a bit late this year.

Chequered Skipper - a bit past its best

There were also a lot of Small Pear-bordered Fritillaries along the way-leave at the bottom of the wood and what looked like a couple of Dark Green Fritillaries but the latter were flying too fast for us to follow over the boggy ground. Nice to see the Small Pearl-bordered as they now seem to be extinct in Sussex.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Another bonus in Glasdrum Wood were the Golden-ringed Dragonflies.

These were a couple of great locations, where we could really have done with spending a lot more time. I am sure Trinafour would also have been good, if we had just managed to get the timing right.

Part three covering the rest of the butterflies on the trip to follow.

Small Pearl-bordered and Marsh Fritillaries

Butterflies are like birds, its nice if you can find them in your own patch. The trouble is that we had set ourselves a target of forty different species for the year and getting them all in Sussex was always going to be difficult. When one of our bankers, the Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, failed to appear at Park Heath Corner we started to worry. Finally with reports coming in from Hampshire and Wiltshire of them starting to look past their best our nerve broke, we would have to go out of county.

We decided on a trip to Bentley Wood out near Salisbury and while we were there we thought we might as well carry on to Cotley Hill on the other side of Salisbury to pick up the Marsh Fritillary. My wife is pretty good about the birding but I was not looking forward to explaining why I needed to do a round trip of 230 miles to see a butterfly, particularly as my windscreen had not yet been replaced and I needed to borrow her car.

It was a good trip for the nerd in me, we got both butterflies and the year ticks. It was not so good for the photographer in me, the butterflies were past their best and the picture opportunities were limited, and it was even worse for the eco-friendly part of me but we we'll not go there today.

We parked up at Bentley Wood and within two minutes of leaving the car Dave had spotted our first Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

There were plenty of them about although most of them were starting to look a little worn. They were nectering on various plants mostly yellow but also on Brambles, the best option seemed to be to find some bramble flowers in a sheltered spot and wait for the butterflies to come to you.

We got some good pictures but somehow I have managed to come away without a closed wing shot.

There was a possibility of Marsh Fritillaries at Bentley Wood but we could not find them. However, whilst we were searching we came across this Dragonfly. It a Black-tailed Skimmer, either a female or a juvenile.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Flushed with our success we headed off to Cotley Hill to find the Marsh Fritillaries and our luck held when we spotted one as we walked onto the site. In fact there were dozens flying and they are a lazy butterfly, much easier to photograph than the Small Pearl-bordered. The only problem was that these had really gone over and most had faded or damaged wings. A bit disappointing but at least we came away with record shots.

Marsh Fritillary

Bramble seemed to be the favourite nectaring plant

Both sites we visited had a lot of butterflies flying and we had a good supporting cast, Large Skipper, Brimstone, Spotted Wood, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Small White, Brown Argus, Small Blue, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Dingy Skipper, Grizzled Skipper, Green Hairstreak, and a good assortment of day flying moths.

Brimstone

Brown Argus

Common Blue

Grizzled Skipper

Large Skipper

Meadow Brown

Six Spot Burnett

Small Heath

Small Tortoiseshell

Its a pity that the two main butterflies that we were after were a bit faded but we have solved the problem for next year, we will be going early when the two species start to emerge. It will turn what was a good day into a great day.